POUGHKEEPSIE, N.Y. – The Purple Eagles took leads in both of Saturday’s games but ultimately fell to the Marist Red Foxes 4-3 and 6-2 at McCann Field.
 
“Despite not coming away with a win, I thought we played well today,” head coach Rob McCoy said.  “A pitch here or a play there and the day could have been completely different.  Tomorrow’s a new day and we’ll have the chance to build on today.”
 
Game One
The Purple Eagles (4-18, 0-2 MAAC) kept the Red Foxes (8-8, 2-0 MAAC) at bay throughout the first six innings behind a strong outing from Kyle Olver, who scattered four hits throughout the stretch and kept Marist off of the board. 
 
NU took a 1-0 lead in the fifth on a Michael Fuhrman RBI and doubled that lead to 2-0 in the seventh, this time on a Fuhrman sac-fly.  Marist finally broke through in the bottom half of the frame when, with two outs already on the board, the home team strung together a double and a single to cut the lead to 2-1.  Marist went on to take the lead in the bottom of the next inning when it put up three more runs, all with two outs, to go up 4-2.
 
Evan Wexler put the Purple Eagles in a position to rally when he led off the ninth inning with a solo-shot to rightfield, but that was as close as Niagara would come as the Red Foxes took game one by a score of 4-3.
 
Olver (1-4) went a total of 7.2 innings and gave up four runs on nine hits.  He added 10 strikeouts while walking only two.  Fuhrman led the way on offense as he finished with a 1-for-3 day at the plate with two RBIs and a walk.
 
Game Two
Niagara got on the board first again in the late game, taking a 1-0 lead in the top of the opening frame.  Kevin Paulsen led off with a single and was brought around two batters later by Ryan McCauley s double to centerfield.  Later, it added to the lead in the third on a Greg Rodgers double. 
 
Marist had trouble getting things going on offense as Jordan Schwartz kept them off the board and without a hit through the first three innings, but they broke through with a pair of two-out runs in the fourth and three more in the fifth to take an 5-2 lead.  The Red Foxes added one more run in the sixth while keeping the Purple Eagles off of the board for the 6-2 win.
 
Schwartz (0-2) took the loss after an outing where he threw 4.1 innings and gave up five runs, only two earned, on three hits.  Kody Kasper threw a scoreless two-thirds and Sean Quinlan gave up one run in an inning of work.  McCauley collected the lone RBI for Niagara and went 1-for-3 at the plate. 
 
These two teams wrap up the series tomorrow at noon.